Thursday, December 25, 2008

Some pictures from Christmas morning in TX. As you can see, Sofia received tons of gifts from Santa! I asked her what her favorite was and she said the ride-on horse she received. I believe her list of things received also includes: Nintendo DS and games, new crocs, clothes and my personal favorite...pearls! She will be home in a few days and then she will open all of the presents Santa left for her here!

...well, not really! I'm sure when most people think of AZ they think golf, hot, very sunny. Well not today! Guess it helps make it seem a little more like Christmas time. These shots are from my upstairs windows of the mountains that surround my neighborhood.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

See my last post and you will know why I have been unable to post Sofia's concert video. Well, here it is! I'm pretty sure you can pick her out. Oh and get this, the concert was not sponsored by the school district, it was just for the kids that go to the afterschool program there. Why you ask? Sure we all know that most schools do not allow you to celebrate Chistmas, I mean after all this was a "Winter Concertt", but apparently in our schools, they do not even allow events in December as the underlying tone is that they are a substitute for the actual holiday thereby actually giving recogntion to the holiday. WHATEVER!!!!

By the way, in the 2nd song, notice how one little voice says the the word "air" with a good bit of southern accent!! Hmmmm, wonder who that child belongs too!!

You see I am been looking for ways to save money so I decided to try Netzero dial-up last week and cancelled my DSL. Holy Cheeseballs, what was I thinking!!! I was unable to upload videos or pictures really and it was just sooooo slow. Lesson learned (put that right up there with the NEVER WILL I BUY A REAL CHRISTMAS TREE AGAIN lesson). So I am happy to report that fast internet has returned to the household, whew.

So many of you have children and everyone always talks about the "Terrible Two's". Well at our house we really had the "Terrible Three's". I friend at work was talking about a tantrum that her daughter recently had and it made me think back to what can certainly go down in my parenting book as the worst behavior EVER by Sofia. It went a little like this:

Every year (for the most part) we go back to Alabama / Georgia in May and October. When we sent and Sofia was 3 (she is now 5), we flew into Atlanta on a direct flight from Phoenix--long but peaceful and she slept a good portion. We flew during the daytime and had no real problems--but she was tired as we had gotten up early and traveled all day so it was around 5pm when we got to Atlanta airport. She was fussing, whining, complaining about waiting for the bags, etc. etc. and she continued to do so. So I pretty much threatened her!! We are waiting for the bags and it was taking a long time and she just melted down--yelling, crying, lying in the floor at baggage. I told her to get up and she did not. I tried picking her up and she went stiff (you moms know what I am talking about). I finally was able to drag her and our carry on stuff (if you know me you know I always over pack) to the restroom outside of baggage. She managed to wiggle out of my arms and the was yelling, "NO, NO"!!!! I was horrified. She was totally demon-possessed. She was bright red and throwing her arms around--if I tried to pick her up she would just wave around and kick and all the while screaming and crying. I was so scared yet humiliated at the same time. The airport was busy and everyone coming into the bathrooms saw her--laying on the floor right as you enter the bathroom. I finally just sat down and cried. I called Elizabeth to give her an update and then just sat there waiting for it to pass. Finally an Angel, dressed as a Delta flight attendant came in looked at Sofia, look at me and said, "is she 3"? I said yes, and she asked what was going on and what I needed to do. I told her I still had to get my bags and get on the train. So she said, "Well, let's go". She reached down grabbed the now only crying and trying to catch her breath Sofia and started walking towards the luggage area. She waited with us (holding Sofia) while I got our bags. Then she walked to the train entry, bought our tickets and asked for permission to ride the elevators with us and allowed us to take the luggage card through the turn style for the train. By now, we had been in the Atlanta airport for nearly 1 and 1/2 hours. We got on our train and by then, Sofia had finally calmed down enough to sit quietly on the train to Marietta. It took the whole ride for me to calm down as well. I felt like such a failure, but my friend and the Angel who helped us hugged me and said, "it happens to us all" and she is right. You can't blame yourself and you certainly can't blame your "babies" it is just part of growing up.

So, during these busy holiday times when we are rushing around and dragging our kids from one stop to the next, take a moment to breathe and slow down, even if it just a little bit. Trust me, you do not want to spend 1 and 1/2 hours in a public restroom with your child rolling around the floor!

Got a good Terrible Tantrum to share, go ahead and post about it or comment here!

Monday, December 15, 2008

1. I did not undecorate my 9 foot Christmas tree on Sunday and shove it out the back door...again.2. I certainly did not eat 1/2 of a 1lb chocolate bar over the weekend.3. I did not forget to send ponytail holders with Sofia to TX.4. I did not drive to my office twice this weekend just so I could use hi-speed internet. I mean come on, someone would have to be pretty addicted to email and blogging to need to do that.5. I absolutely did not force the new doggy to spend some time in the backyard in the cold to go potty because I was too caught up in a Lifetime movie to take him for a walk.6. I surely did not spend 1 hour picking adhesive polka dots off of Sofia's wall yesterday.

That's it for me. I am so glad I did not do any of those things, whew!

So I finally have pictures of my Christmas tree (you know the one that kept falling over and I had to have my father-in-law stand it up for me after I shoved it out the back door). So this year I have had about 8 ornaments broken because of this tree--when I first put it up it was leaning so that caused breakage and since then, the branches are just weak so things keep falling off. So this morning I was just done. I saw when I came downstairs today, that another ornament was lying shattered on the floor. That was it! I proceeded to undecorate the tree and drag it back outside to the patio--where it will stay until the day I can put in the trash for the recycle truck. I packed up most of my ornaments that were on the tree and added some to the garland over my dining room table. Santa will just have to use Sofia's small tree upstairs this year. So note to self...NEVER get the crazy idea that a real tree will be fun!!!!! After this experience, I am not even going to feel sorry for all those left over trees on the Christmas Tree lots after Christmas--serves em right for having such weak branches!!!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Tonight Sofia had her Winter Concert (not to be confused with Christmas of course!!) at school and they sang / recited 4 songs / poems. It was really cute and she had a great time. It was also nice that her Grandparents from TX were able to see her. This is her 4 / 5 year old preschool class.

Ugh, my internet is so slow! It took forever to get these pics uploaded and I am not sure if it will upload the video or not!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Well, hello Nugget. You are so handsome and well-trained and house-broken, fluffy and just darn cute! Oh and you are Mr. Fancy pants with your registration papers and your personal dog trainer for 6 weeks. I am impressed!

Nugget, did you know when I move I can have a dog? What's that? You knew that? Well, ok then, I guess you can come live with me!

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Sofia and Caroline on the beach. Sofia loves to be with Caroline. While we were on vacation with the Jenkins family, Caroline allowed Sofia to play with / sleep with one of her stuffed animals, a penguin. Every night, the penguin was who Sofia picked to snuggle with--not the 2 nighttime requirements (Squishy Bear and Chocolate Bear) we had brought with us. Needless to say, she still asks about the Penguin. In this pic, we had been taking portraits of the Jenkins on the Beach and I knew I wanted to capture a special picture of Sofia with Caroline. This picture is now in Sofia's room on her photo board.

So, the Christmas tree is up and decorated (I'll post pics tomorrow) and I decided I either have too many ornaments or I am going to have to start having 2 trees each year--well 3 if you count Sofia's. Today I made yummy chicken pot pie (inspired by Elizabeth). Mine was almost as good as the one she made while I was visiting. So on one of my random outings I found myself a tan bathrobe that is long and really soft chenille. I am planning to live in it this winter. I am wearing it as I type this. It is so soft, Sofia says she wants one to sleep in too!

My Chirstmas cards are done and I gotta say, I took the easy way out this year--Walgreens photo cards. I created them on Friday afternoon and an hour later and $16 and I had them! I have been working on addressin them this afternoon, trying to get a head start. Thank you Elizabeth for taking some of the pics I used. This will be first for me--a Christmas card with my picture in it as well as Sofia's. I wish I had not gained back some of the weight I had worked so hard to lose over the past year, but oh well, time to get rededicated to working out!

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate!!2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps everythin--last year he did not wrap some large items and Sofia was very upset.3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Pink on Sofia's tree and white everywhere else.4. Do you hang mistletoe? nope5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving.6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?Ham7. Favorite holiday memory as a child. The year is snowed a lot and my parent's had invited all of our family to our house and it was really cold and we had lot's of heaters going but it was still very cold and icey outside and some people could not back their cars out of our long driveway!8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? dib't remember.9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? As a kid we did but with Sofia we have not. I like the pajama idea from Laura.10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? All hand-blown glass ornaments on the main tree and then sofia's tree has her handmade items and ours together as well as lot's of pink girlie stuff.11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? Love it!12. Can you ice skate? not well.13, Do you remember your favorite gift? hmmm. Sofia, since she was born in late November and then as a child probably my cabbage patch doll.14. What is the most important thing about the Holidays for you? trying to start some traditions for Sofia and seeing my parents, which is not often since I am in AZ.15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Magic Cookie Bars16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? eating dinner at my parent's house and opening presents. It has been a long time since we did that.17. What tops your tree? star or bow18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? BOTH19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Noel20. Candy Canes! ok21. What do you want for Christmas? money22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party? just for work23. Do you dress up on Christmas or wear PJ’s? not really24. Do you own a Santa hat? no25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with? Sofia now. I wish I was with my family in AL or friends in GA, this year will be hard because Sofia will be visiting TX and I will be by myself in AZ.

Monday, December 1, 2008

On our trip to Orlando we went to Universal's Islands of Adventures and it was so much fun! Sofia really liked the Dr. Seuss area. She really likes the Cat in the Hat and we were having such a great time riding all the fun rides!